Hugh Verrier Elected to Lead White & Case

NEW YORK, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- White & Case LLP has announced thatHugh Verrier has been chosen Chair of the Firm in an election by thepartnership. Verrier, 51, is a project finance and banking lawyer, a member of theFirm's eight-member Management Board and executive partner of White &Case's Moscow office. A New York-qualified lawyer who joined White & Casein 1983, Verrier will relocate to the Firm's New York office beforeofficially assuming his new role. Verrier will succeed Managing Partner Duane D. Wall as head of theFirm. Wall has led the Firm since 2000. As Chair, Verrier will be in charge of a leadership and management teamunder a new governance arrangement adopted by the Firm this past May. "White & Case is on the move," Verrier said. "We are a global firm, andwe will continue to grow with the worldwide marketplace to best serve ourclients." Under the Firm's new governance arrangement, Verrier will serve as headof White & Case and lead an Executive Committee consisting of himself andthree partners he selects. In addition, an eight-member Partnership Committee will be elected bythe partners with responsibility to serve on the Compensation Committee andthe New Partners Committee. The terms of office for the Chair and the Partnership Committee will befour years. Managing Partner Duane Wall said: "The challenges facing our firm todayare different from those we faced when I became head of the Firm in 2000,not just because of our significant growth since that time, but alsobecause of the changes in the competitive landscape, the increasedcomplexity in managing client relationships and the many ways technologyhas changed how we do business. "By enlarging our management team, and with Hugh Verrier as Chair ofthe Firm under this new governance arrangement, I believe White & Case willhave the hands-on leadership necessary to assure that we continue toprovide the very best of our resources and capabilities to our clients,"said Wall. The election process will continue to the next stage to choose themembers of the Partnership Committee. The Firm's current leadership,consisting of Wall and an eight-member Management Board, will remain inplace until the new leadership is fully in place. Hugh Verrier Hugh Verrier is widely recognized as one of the leading internationalproject finance lawyers. He has led the Moscow office since 1998, buildingit into an acknowledged market leader in Russia. He previously worked atWhite & Case offices in New York, Turkey and Indonesia. Verrier wasdescribed in Chambers Global directory as "a wise man and a giftedmanager." A Canadian, Verrier received a bachelor of arts degree fromUniversite de Montreal, his LL.B. from the University of Ottawa, and anLL.M. from Harvard Law School. About White & Case White & Case LLP is a leading global law firm with more than 2,000lawyers in 35 offices in 23 countries. Our clients value the breadth anddepth of our US, English and local law capabilities and rely on us fortheir complex cross- border commercial and financial transactions and forinternational arbitration and litigation. Whether in established oremerging markets, the hallmark of White & Case is our complete dedicationto the business priorities and legal needs of our clients.